Dreaming of a green Christmas? Help Congress make it happen...

Authors: Van Jones

For many, this holiday season will be tough. But Congress could give a terrific present to thousands who desperately need work - by fully funding the Green Jobs Act.

Congress is deciding right now what to include in the economic "stimulus and recovery" package it will pass in the new year. This stimulus has the potential to create good, green jobs for America - but only if Congress includes full funding for the Green Jobs Act.

Yesterday, Green For All initiated a letter-writing campaign, asking supporters to urge Congress to fund the Green Jobs Act as part of America's rescue package.

If you haven't already, please tell Congress to green the stimulus: take action.

In the New Year, our leaders in Washington will pour billions of dollars into our faltering economy, to revitalize it. But how that money is spent, and who it goes to, is still up for grabs. The $700 billion Wall Street bailout earlier this year did not do much to help people on Main Street. Now, with Congress putting so much money on the line again, let's make sure they get it right.

The stimulus package will only help the hundreds of thousands of people who just lost their jobs this winter, the families who don't know how they'll survive next year, and the communities that yearn to be vibrant and healthy, if we demand it.

That's why we're calling for a stimulus that doesn't just bailout and prop up the old economy, but invests in good, green jobs, invests in a new, green economy, and invests in people.

The Green Jobs Act

The Green Jobs Act will create green pathways out of poverty in this country. Working with allies, Green For All got the program included in the Energy Bill of 2007. Bush signed the program into law last December. But he failed to include a penny for it in his 2008 budget proposal.

Congress can finally jumpstart this desperately needed program by dedicating $250 million or more in the economic stimulus bill.

The Green Jobs Act will help approximately 25,000 people a year get training in green trades. Trainees could then get employed installing solar panels, weatherizing and retrofitting buildings, working in the wind industry and doing other important work.

The Need

Many people in our communities are between jobs now. Some are coming home from wars - or prisons. They deserve an economic future in the only part of the economy likely to grow soon: the green energy sector.

There is a lot of TALK about green jobs. But there is only one authorized federal program designed to provide training for those jobs: The Green Jobs Act. It needs full funding.

President-elect Barack Obama is committed to a clean energy transformation. Let's expand the number of people who can benefit from the jobs and investment that will flow from the green economy revolution.

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#GreenForAll, #YesWeCode, #cut50, and #LoveArmy, are initiativesof the Dream Corps, a social justice accelerator for transformativecampaigns, ideas, and innovations. We work to close prison doorsand open doors of opportunity. We fight hate with Love + Power.